Sanif v. Canada

Principle Established: Visa Office has the right to revoke a PR visa that has already been issued.

The Applicant applied for Permanent Residence (PR) under the Skilled Worker Category after receiving a positive Arranged Employment Offer (AEO) from Service Canada. Her application was approved and she was already in possession of her PR visa.

Shortly afterwards, the Visa Officer who issued the PR Visa learnt that the Applicant’s employer was being investigated for fraudulent Employment Offers.

The Visa Officer immediately called the applicant for an interview at the High Commission to “discuss problems with her visa”. The applicant decided to leave for Canada before the interview. When she landed in Canada, she was told that her visa has been cancelled by the Singapore Visa Office. She was granted entry for further examination.

The main issue in this case was whether the Visa Officer was right to revoke her PR visa that was already issued?

The Court opined that the Visa Officer had the right to request the applicant to re-attend an interview even though PR visas were already issued. The Visa Officer gave the applicant the opportunity to discuss the alleged problem with her visa. However, the applicant decided not to attend the interview. Once visas are issued they remain valid until expiry, unless they are revoked.